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Workers at Tata Steel’s operations in south Wales have voted for strike action for the first time in 40 years in response to the Indian group’s plans to close the last two remaining blast furnaces.
Unite the Union said on Thursday that about 1,500 of its members at Tata’s Port Talbot and Llanwern plants had backed industrial action in what it called a “historic” bid to save thousands of jobs.
Unite announced a ballot last month in response to the company’s decision in January to close its two remaining UK blast furnaces, which are both in Port Talbot, as it looks to refocus its operations on a greener form of steelmaking.
The decision is expected to lead to up to 2,800 job losses across the company’s heavily lossmaking UK operation, which employs about 8,000 people. Port Talbot, which has a workforce of about 4,000, will bear the brunt of the lay-offs.
“This is a historic vote,” said Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite.
“Not since the 1980s have steelworkers voted to strike in this way,” she added, noting that Tata had threatened to withdraw enhanced redundancy packages if workers voted for industrial action.
Community, the largest union at Tata, started balloting its members for industrial action on Thursday and is expected to announce the result in early May.
Alun Davies, Community’s national officer for steel, urged members to back industrial action in its month-long ballot. “Steelworkers now have a chance to be a part of history and to take a stand to protect our vital steel industry,” he said.
Tata said that since January, it had started a “formal information sharing and consultation process” with the unions, later offering “a significantly enhanced, comprehensive package of support” for affected employees.
It said it was “disappointed” with the Unite result and accused the union of “significant irregularities” in its ballot process.
The Indian steelmaker intends to replace its traditional blast furnaces with an electric arc furnace, a lower-carbon production method that requires a much smaller workforce.
The UK government has pledged £500mn towards the transformation, while Tata intends to invest £750mn.
Unite had argued that Tata should hold out for a Labour government, which has offered to invest £3bn in the operation. The union has also warned that the plan to close both blast furnaces will end the UK’s ability to make steel from scratch.
“Other EU countries are transitioning their steel industries while retaining and growing their capacity because they know steel has a bright future — a tenfold increase in demand is predicted in the coming years,” Graham said.
“In the UK, Tata’s plans and those of the government reflect the short-term thinking of a clapped-out disinterested government marking time to a general election.”
Tata said much of its operations were now “unreliable and inefficient”, adding that it had ended coke-making at Port Talbot on March 20. “By restructuring our UK operations, we will be able to sustain the business as we transition to new electric arc furnace technology,” it said.
